NAROWAL: The Punjab Tourist Police has been established to provide security to the tourists and it would ensure security of the Sikh yatrees coming to Kartarpur.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) retired Capt Arif Nawaz Khan formally inaugurated the Punjab Tourist Police office here on Thursday.

Addressing the inauguration, he said 1,500 police officials had laid down their lives in Punjab to end terrorism and it was hoped that foreign tourists would visit Pakistan now.

Mr Khan inaugurated the Punjab Tourist Police office where the officials were given new motorcycles and cars to perform their duty. More than 100 employees of the Punjab Tourist Police have been appointed in the district Narowal.

The members of the civil society, Gujranwala Regional Police Officer Tariq Abbas, Narowal District Police Officer Zulfiqar Ahmad, DSPs, Punjab Tourist Police and traffic police officials were present on the occasion.

“The Punjab Tourist Police will provide security to Sikh yatrees visiting Kartarpur and other tourist spots. The tourist police will be deployed at Murree and other tourist points too so that the tourists may have peaceful and secure atmosphere,” said the IGP.

Compared to population, he added, the number of policemen was low in Punjab that had 726 police stations out of which 120 were working in rented buildings.

“All the good police forces of the world peform duty only for eight hours and nobody asks them about their 16 hours. Our motorway police also work for eight hours a day and they take rest for 16 hours.”

Mr Khan said the government had imposed a ban on recruitment in police.

“The government has limited resources; therefore, not even a single constable was added to our police force after 2009,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2019